In 1989 Bettison set out a series of criticisms of police that were hard to counter. He told the court they “add up to a serious failing”.

Bettison was part of the Wain team that prepared SYP’s proof of evidence to Lord Justice Taylor’s inquiry into the disaster.

Bettison agreed that none of the criticisms were included in that proof of evidence. He added that he had nothing to do with the final submission.

He agreed that the section he wrote included evidence containing “disparaging comments about fans which are, to some extent, gratuitous and not necessary to a proper understanding of the event”.

SYP suggested to Taylor that ticketless fans “conspired to arrive late” and force police to admit them to the match by causing trouble.

Bettison said he told a Police Federation meeting there was no grounds for the theory. But he had suggested it could be referred to publicly to show police were “active”.

Disaster

Bettison wrote a note to SYP chief constable Peter Wright dated 7 July 1989 about an upcoming TV documentary. It said SYP could be presented as “a caring and professional organisation, doggedly pursuing the facts surrounding the disaster, eg, the conspiracy theory.”

Peter Wilcock QC asked about a meeting at SYP Police Federation headquarters on 3 October attended by Tory MP Michael Shersby. Wilcock said the minutes made clear that the Police Federation intended to plan a counter attack on Taylor’s findings with Shersby.

Bettison said, “I read that in the notes. To what extent back in 1989 I knew what it was referring to is another point entirely.”

Wilcock asked about Bettison’s appointment to chief constable of Merseyside Police. The court was shown minutes of an informal meeting with the police authority and Bettison in November 1998.

The interview panel asked him about which incident he would most like to forget.